Summer zooms by in wink of an eye

Kids are heading back to school. Labor Day is next weekend. AndI’m sitting here sniffling in front of my computer with thebeginnings of a cold wondering where the summer went.

School can’t be starting already. It seems like just a few daysago I was covering graduation ceremonies and taking pictures ofhappy seniors at Grad Nite parties. Summer used to seem like a longtime. Now it flies by in an instant.

Then again, back in the Stone Age when I went to school, classesdidn’t start in the middle of August. A couple of days after LaborDay was the earliest starting date. We were usually out before themiddle of June, giving us a solid 2 1/2 months of free time.

This summer felt like 2 1/2 minutes. It must have something todo with getting older. Time seems to pass much more quickly for usadults than it did back in our younger years.

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Remember high school? Those three years felt like they tookforever. Memories from then are seared into my brain. Ask what Iwas doing three years ago, and I couldn’t answer for a millionbucks. Heck, ask what I was doing three weeks ago, and I’ll likelygive you a blank stare.

Some things probably contribute to the feeling of time rapidlypassing. Consider the upcoming election for governor. Doesn’t itseem to you as if we were just voting for governor, like,yesterday?

Oh? We were? OK, maybe that is a bad example.

Anyway, I want my summer back. I need to get out to the Del MarFair -- or whatever it’s called these days -- to check out thelatest gadgets and try out the newest junk food treats. I want tohear a couple more patriotic Fourth of July music concerts andwatch the fireworks.

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I want opening day at the Del Mar Racetrack, a chance to viewthe wild and wacky chapeaus that people create for the annual hatcontest. Hey, with the Del Mar meet more than halfway over, I’dtake just an extra day or two to sneak away and flush a few dollarsdown the handicapping toilet.

Well, maybe I can squeeze that in.

All I know is that it seems like we went from June 15 to Aug. 24in an awful hurry. I recall a cruise to Alaska, a couple of days inVancouver, a couple more river-rafting, and a journey to Detroit tosee old friends.

We saw some plays, had a few dinners out, and did a lot ofshopping for various materials for our home redecorating efforts,which I’ll probably address at some point down the road when we geta better handle on what we’re doing.

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The rest of the summer is a big blur of work and othercommitments that just aren’t sticking in the front section of mybrain these days. At least, not the way they did when summer was atime of total fun and frolic: ice cream, baseball games, bikerides, hide and seek, and swimming.

Now that I think of it, those summers seemed to go by prettyquickly as well. We’ll have to figure out a way to do somethingabout that.